Derbyshire Revisited
by Miss Pennyfeather
Summary: A what-if Pride and Prejudice story: Lizzie is Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner's only daughter. How will the love story go this time? R&R.


**Hi everyone, this story has been living inside my dormant mind for some months and I've finally had some time to finish some chapters. I don't know whether it's been done before but if it has, the versions will be different in any case. **

**I took some liberties with certain aspects of canon as you will find after reading, but it is fanfiction after all (for example, in my story, the Gardiners only have three children - Robert, Lizzie, Thomas - and not four like in the book, Lizzie is nineteen etc.) and I hope no one will be bothered by it. **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and tell me what you think:)**

1. Departure

When Lizzie Gardiner, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, honourable residents of a red-bricked house in Cheapside, London, turned nineteen, Mrs. Gardiner thought it wise to settle once more in Derbyshire, Lambton, her old childhood home. Their London life was becoming more and more expensive and tiring and Mr. Gardiner suffered from headaches and fatigue. They both missed the country-side terribly and they thought they could afford to retire for a couple of years. This plan pleased Mr. Gardiner to a great extent, for not only would he be able to rest more, but his two boys, Thomas and Robert, would keep away from the London streets and his daughter, Lizzie, would find husbands a great deal harder and would remain with them for a longer time.

As for Lizzie Gardiner herself, she didn't think much of the move. She was glad to be with her family, no matter the place in question. She had become rather partial to London, but she always walked through the parks until it was too dark to see, therefore, her love of nature would be immensely gratified.

It did alarm her though that she would lose some of her town acquaintances, such as Miss Charlotte Lucas or Miss Maria King, but she was sure she would visit them and write them letters daily. She was of a cheerful disposition, for which reason she did not dwell on the dreary aspects of leaving town.

Miss Lucas, however, was devastated to find that her friend was leaving her.

'Oh, Lizzie, who knows when we will see each other again? You might be gone for a very long while, enough for you to forget all about me.'

'Charlotte, don't be silly. You know I could never forget you. And if I do, you are welcome to punish me as you see fit.'

'No, I am sure, you won't write every day. There will be so much for you to do there that writing will become an inconvenience.'

'I highly doubt that a life in the peaceful country-side could be as hectic as you imagine. I am sure I will have more time to write than I desire.'

But Charlotte remained unconvinced and melancholy right to the very day of departure, when she came by to pay her adieus.

Mr. Gardiner, who was a respectable tradesman, liked to keep a rigorous schedule. Therefore, he was not very pleased to see that his daughter and his wife were still fumbling over their luggage and looking around the house for anything that might have slipped their notice.

'Come now, Mrs. Gardiner, it is past nine in the morning! This is no time to be leaving on such a long trip. You ought to have packed everything already. Hasn't Greta helped you?'

The two women dismissed him and left him waiting by the carriage as they continued their hunt around the house.

'My dear Lizzie,' her mother began, 'I see that you are out of spirits. Are you upset that we are leaving? I already told you that we could depart earlier and you could join us in winter, if you like. The Lucases have offered to have you stay with them as long as you choose...'

'No, mother, I am quite decided I am coming with you. It was very nice of them to offer but I would miss you too much. Besides, I am not very attached to London and I have always wanted to see Lambton and Derbyshire. A change would do us all good.'

Lizzie was also determined not to show more sadness than she ought to because it would do no good to make an exhibition of her feelings in front of everyone and her brothers would only tease her in return. Having grown up with two tall and mischievous boys she had had to fend for herself more than once and hold her own against them with as much strength as her petite stature could afford her. More often than not, her mother complained she had become to boyish and coarse for her liking, taking after them in behaviour and manner, but it was not her fault that she had spent most of her life with them. Sometimes, she envied her cousins, the Bennet girls, for having only sisters. Mrs. Bennet, married to Mr. Bennet of Hertfordshire, was Mr. Gardiner's younger sister and she was the mother of four agreeable and handsome daughters, Jane, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. The Gardiners visited the Bennets almost every winter for Christmas and it was the only time of the year Lizzie was surrounded by more girls than boys.

Even though she was a bit too high-strung and bold for her age, Lizzie was closest to Jane Bennet, the kind and quiet sister who was intelligent and calm and not at all silly or conceited like the other girls tended to be. Jane and Lizzie would stroll across the fields, hand in hand, talking little nothings and making plans for the faraway days when they would travel to India together.

'If one day I learn how to sail a ship, which I will, mind you, you will be the first I shall take with me on my journey,' she told Jane animatedly. 'We will be the legends of the sea.'

'What about your brothers, Thomas and Robert?' Jane asked.

'Oh, they will defend us from the pirates. But they will have no use otherwise.'

'You are very mean, Lizzie, indeed they are nice boys.'

'They are nice to you Jane, because you are very handsome.'

'Now, pray tell me, what will we do in India, once we have arrived?' Jane asked eagerly.

'We shall see all that is worth seeing and we shall learn many new languages. Then, since you are better at drawing than I will ever be, you shall become famed for your landscapes of Indian rivers and I will write many books about the people and the land.'

These were the sort of fanciful dreams they had in mind while the English country-side unravelled in front of their eyes in its utmost beauty. But they were too busy and too full of life to dwell on anything present.

When Lizzie wrote to Jane that she was leaving London for Derbyshire, all that Jane could reply was:  
_'You will still be so far away, Lizzie._'

As much as it pained Lizzie, however, she had made up her mind and she was not turning back on her word.

As the Gardiners climbed up into their carriage, Robert sitting beside the coachman and Thomas, Lizzie and their parents inside, the latter told Lizzie this would be the last time she would see their house for a very long time.

Lizzie held the curtains over the window and peeked at the oval shaped windows of the attic and sighed, knowing she had probably left many things behind.

She saw Charlotte waving at them in the middle of the street as the carriage started moving and she waved back, smiling.


End file.
